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This is not a book that one might see as needed by veterinary technicians, technician students or veterinarians at first glance. However, as more and more professionals give back to the profession through contributions to professional journals, textbooks and research publications; a book such as this is vital to help answer all of the niggling questions that perturb writers as they practice their craft. For students struggling to “get it right” the first time, this book will be invaluable.
The value of this book is in the presentation; a must have as soon as one receives a syllabus or welcome lecture to a class with a term paper requirement. The book is divided into twelve chapters as a dissection of a research paper. The delivery allows the user to perfect their paper from the topic choice to the final proofread of the draft. The first half of this dissection includes: Chapter 1: Basic Information which includes a guide to what a research paper includes and how to approach the assignment. Chapter 2: Choosing a Topic allows the student to explore what makes a good topic for a research paper? This chapter helps one to choose a topic that is not too narrow and yet not too broad. Chapter 3: The Library is an introduction into an often overlooked source of reference material in the electronic age of the 21st Century; this chapter reminds researchers of all the reasons to visit the local university library. Chapter 4 & 5: Computerized Research & Doing Research are chapters that acknowledge the way in which the Internet has opened up a whole new world in terms of research. These chapters demystify the art of doing computerized research, a task that is more and more common especially among distance learning programs. Chapter 6: Thesis and Outline allow the writer who has now chosen a topic and put in the time researching the topic to now create an outline; essentially the outline is the paper in shorthand. Develop a good outline and write the paper following the outline implicitly and voila’ – a winning research paper emerges. This chapter can make that happen.
Chapter 7 & 8: Rough Draft and Revision guides the writer through the first writing of the paper and subsequent revisions that may be necessary. This is quite possibly the most important set of steps and two chapters not to miss. Chapter 9, 10 & 11 address documentation according to the major standards recognized in journalism including the Modern Language Association (MLA), American Psychological Association (APA) and Chicago Manual of Style (CMS). Each chapter goes into great detail on the correct use of footnotes and endnotes as well as the rules of each style including formatting. Chapter 12: Sample Papers for Reference offers the writer complete research papers, both scientific and non-scientific for examination when embarking on the writing journey. The papers are presented with colored sidebars explaining formatting and other important information relating to the development of a great paper.
Throughout the book there are a variety of tips including: scheduling, formatting, cautionary, and search hints placed strategically to remind writers of important steps and pitfalls to avoid. One of the most delightfully whimsical things about this book is the cover page for each chapter which introduces someone of historical and research-oriented significance such as George Washington Carver and Madame Curie. Finally the Appendix provides both Annotated References as well as Specific References. These are nice for general usage; however, the list does not provide many veterinary medical references. For general scientific references this section is a good start.
All in all this book is one that this reviewer feels is useful and a must have for anyone interested in writing scientific research papers both academically and professionally. This would include veterinary technicians, students and even veterinarians, whether in a clinical or academic setting.
Publisher: Wadsworth-Cengage Learning
354 pages; soft cover
ISBN-13: 978-0-495-90758-9; ISBN-10: 0-495-90758-8
VIN Store: Currently Unavailable